3 1 6 The V O Y 
of the Public ; and therefore they muft have a Power df 
diftinguifhing in fuch Cafes, to prevent their being good 
Servants to the Company, at the Expence of being bad 
Subjects to the Republic. That it Was fimpiy impoffi- 
ble the Weft India Company Ihould demand a Licence for 
what they endeavoured to prevent ; and that their Inftruc- 
tions, in this refpect, are inconteftable Proofs of their Defire 
to avoid any Difputes with that Company. Befides, the 
difcovering of new Countries is a Point of evident Advan- 
tage to the whole Community, and ought by no means 
to depend on the Will or Pleafure of any Company what- 
ever, fince the Benefit of the Whole Ought always to take 
Place of the Privileges granted to any Part of a People. 
The Officers of the Eaft India Company were the proper 
Judges of this* and ought to have made the Diftinblion as 
Subjects of the State of Holland ; for they otherwife might 
expeft the fame thing with refpeft to Ships of War ; and, 
under colour of fupporting the Privileges of the Company, 
ereft a new and independent Sovereignty in the Indies. 
This intirely deftroys the Notion of great Inconveniencies 
that mull arife from the Officers of the Company affuming 
to themfelves fuch a Power ; becaufe, if they have not fuch 
a Power, they are not at Liberty to cliftinguifh between the 
Obedience they owe the Company* and their Duty to the 
Public. That this Method of treating thefe Ships will con- 
tribute to the promoting Difcoveries, or to any other good 
End whatfoever, is a Thing not to be prefumed upon the 
Company’s Affertion, fince the contrary is much more pro- 
bable. This forces one to obferve, that there is no Point, 
in which the private Intereft of this or any other Com- 
pany more plainly interferes with that of the Public, than 
in this of difcovering Lands hitherto unknown * for, as this 
would infallibly contribute to the Extenfion of Commerce in 
general, fo it is no lefs plain, that it would hurtthe Intereft 
of the Company in particular ; efpecially, if it be true, that 
the Countries, made known by this Voyage, abound with 
Spices, and other rich Commodities of the Indies. It is 
this Reflection that ought to incline us to fufpeft, that the 
coming into thofe Seas was not the only Crime that drew 
on the Perfons on board the Ship fo heavy a Puniffiment, 
but rather that it was aggravated by the Reports received of 
their Difcoveries ; and, if fo, it very much imports the 
State to prevent Things of this nature, fince, as the Eaft 
India Company cannot prevent other Nations from attempt* 
ing fuch Difcoveries, the plain Confequence of this Con- 
duit of theirs muft be, placing the reft of the Subjects of 
this State in a worfe Condition, than if they were the Sub- 
jects of any other Power, which is a Thing that ought by 
no means to be permitted. As to the Value of the Ships, 
and their Cargoes, it cannot alter the Cafe at all * for, whe- 
ther it be great or little, Satisfaction ought to be made for 
what has been unjuftly taken away ; and, as to the fending 
home the Men on board thefe Ships as Prifoners, it has evi- 
dently the worft Tendency that can be ; becaufe, while they 
were in the Service of the Public, they were efpecially un- 
der its Protection ; fo that, to pafs by fuch an ACt with 
Impunity, will be to facrifice the Honour of the Govern- 
ment, and the Safety of the Nation, to the Prerogatives 
of a Company mifunderftood. Befides, fliould this Sen- 
tence of the Governor-General and Council of the Indies 
be fupported here, as the Memorial from the Company de- 
fires, it would undoubtedly occkfion frequent Mutinies, 
fince a Ship’s Company could not promife themfelves Pro- 
tection from their Obedience to their Officers lawful Com- 
mands, but muft ftand expofed to the arbitrary Cenfures of 
another Authority, with the Cuftoms of which they cannot 
be acquainted. On the Whole, therefore, we ought to 
conclude, that, in this Cafe, the Governor-General and 
Council of the Indies have exceeded the Bounds of their 
legal Authority, and done what cannot be juftified by the 
Company’s Charter, which confequently cannot be weakened 
in any refpeft, by the fetting this Sentence afide, and re- 
dreffing the Parties injured •, which ought, therefore, to be 
done immediately, and in an exemplary manner * that 
the Eaft India Company, and their Officers, may, for the 
future, learn to make fuch DiftinCtions as are requifite for 
the Security of Commerce in general, and for the Safety 
of the Subjects of this State in particular. 
ages of : Book i. 
Accordingly their High Mightineffies the States General 
ordered and decreed, that the Eaft India Company fhould 
furnifh the Weft India Company with two new Ships, com- 
pletely rigged in every refpeCt, better than thofe which they 
had condemned and confifcated ; that the former fhould 
likewife pay to the latter the full Value of their Cargoes, 
fo loon as that Value could be fixed and afcertained ; that* 
with refpeft to the Crew of both Ships, the Eaft India 
Company fliould pay them their Wages, to the Time of 
their Return to Holland ; that, moreover, the faid Com- 
pany fliould pay all Cofts of Suit, befides a certain Sum to 
the public. Ufe, for having thus abufed their Authority. 
Such was the End of this important Controverfy, and fuch 
the wife and equitable Decifion of the States General, cn 
this Difpute between the two Companies; which has been 
the more largely infilled upon, becaufe, though it fell out in 
Holland , yet the Point in Debate concerned equally fome 
Other Countries ; to fay the Truth, every Country, where 
there is any exclitfive Company eftablifiied : And I cannot 
but be perfuaded, that every impartial Reader, who con* 
fiders the Reafons on both Sides, as they have been before 
clearly ftated, will be of Opinion, that their High Migh- 
tineffes diftinguifhed very juftly between the particular Ad- 
vantages refulting to a Company eftablifhed by their Au- 
thority, and the common Benefit of all their Suhj.efts, for 
the maintaining and promoting of which their own Autho- 
rity is eftablifiied. '1 here is one Thing more I muft ob- 
ferve upon this Sentence, and it is this ; that the State have 
given both Companies a Rule, by which they oifght to re- 
gulate their Conduft for the future ; and have thereby, in 
all Probability, prevented fuch Exceffes, as by this Sen- 
tence they punifhed : And yet, perhaps, this Accident hin- 
dered the Profecution of the Difcoveries which this Voyage 
had fo happily begun. 
43. The Remarks that I fhall make upon this Voyage 
fhall be confined to a few Heads, and thofe of fuch a Na- 
ture, as may contribute at once to the Reader’s Amufement 
and Information, as well as to the clearing up fome Points, 
that may feem a little oblcure in the foregoing Voyage. 
In the firft place, it is worth obferving, that the Weft India 
Company in Holland hath been long in a declining Condi- 
tion ; which, inftead of defpiriting the Directors, has en- 
gaged them to turn their Thoughts on every Method that 
could be imagined for the Recovery of their Affairs. 
There is fo wide a Difference between our Companies, and 
thofe in Holland , that it may not be amifs to give a concifc 
Account of the flourifhing State of this Company, the ra- 
ther, becaufe it willfhew what great Things a Board of Mer- 
chants, for fuch the Directors generally were, can manage. 
It appears by the Books of the Company, that, in the Space 
of thirteen Years, that is to fay, from 1633 to 1636, they 
fitted out to Sea eight hundred Ships, either for War or 
Trade ; and that the Expence of Building, Equipping, and 
Seamens Wages, of thefe, coft them forty-five Millions of 
Florins ; and that, in the fame Space of Time, they had 
taken from their Enemy five hundred and forty-five Veffels, 
valued, in the Whole, at fixty Millions ; befides which, 
their Spoils amounted to thirty Millions at leaft: But 
the greateft of their Exploits was, that of feizing the Spanijh 
Flota at the Havanna , by their Admiral Peter Heyn , by 
which they gained feven Millions of Pieces of Eight in 
Money, and in Ships, Brafs Cannon, and other military 
Stores, above ten Millions : Such were the flourifhing 
Times of the Company. The Caufes of their Decay feemed 
to be principally thefe : Firft, their Emulation of the Eaft 
India Company, which induced them to make the Con- 
queft of Brafil from the Crown of Portugal : This they at- 
chieved at a vaft Expence ; and then appointed Count 
Maurice of NaJJau Governor-General, who managed their 
Affairs with great Skill and Prudence.. But then, fecondly, 
the Defire they had of managing all Things themfelves, 
and their repining at the Expence of that Prince’s Govern- 
ment, was another Caufe of their Misfortunes ; for the 
Merchants, who had conducted their Affairs with great 
Wifdom and Capacity, while they confined themfelves to 
Commerce, and a Maritime War, fhewed themfelves but 
indifferent Statefmen ; and, in a very fhort time, loft all 
that Prince Maurice had acquired, bringing, withal, fuch 
a Debt 
